


Slow Down, Brother

by Ahelpfulpeach



Series: She-Ra Canon Universe Stories [18]
Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Bow gets to vent, Catra in particular is GROWING and HEALING, F/F, Fluff, Friendship, POV Bow very briefly, POV Catra (She-Ra), Post-Canon, Sappy, a brief moment of soft sweet fluffy glimbow, awkward soft caring bow and catra friendship, soft fluffy happy catradora, this is really just soft and fluffy as shit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-23
Updated: 2020-06-23
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:14:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,169
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24868975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ahelpfulpeach/pseuds/Ahelpfulpeach
Summary: "And, because she was such a kind and caring girlfriend, she grabbed a couple cold bottles of water. And because she was such a kind and caring friend, she didn’t lob them at Bow when his silhouette suddenly appeared in the doorway. Nor did she have to bite down on her tongue to keep from shrieking. No one could sneak up on her. It didn’t happen."Catra and Bow have some bonding time.
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Bow & Catra (She-Ra), Bow/Glimmer (She-Ra)
Series: She-Ra Canon Universe Stories [18]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1763977
Comments: 38
Kudos: 359





	Slow Down, Brother

**Author's Note:**

> For anyone keeping track of the timeline for this series, this one takes place a little over 10 months post finale.
> 
> A couple folks on Tumblr wanted more Bow and some Bow and Catra bonding time, and this is the result!
> 
> I am currently taking suggestions on my Tumblr (@ahelpfulpeach), just drop an ask or a message, you don't need to be following me or anything. If you do leave an ask, let me know if you want it published or not. Nothing is off limits to suggest (including AU stuff if y'all are interested), I just may not use every suggestion!

When she’d asked if Adora wanted anything else, Catra hadn’t expected to have to get out of bed to fulfill the request, and certainly hadn’t thought she’d have to leave the room. But Adora was looking at her with those big blue eyes and a soft, blissful smile…

“Ughhh fine, you jerk. What do you want?” Catra slid out of bed, grumbling quietly to herself as she yanked on some pants and a shirt.

“Chips, maybe? I dunno, whatever sounds good to you,” Adora’s words still seemed soft around the edges, bleeding into one another.

“Making me go _all_ the way to the kitchen and you don’t even know what you want.”

“You seem to have a knack for figuring it out.” Catra didn’t even have to look to know she was smirking. She _also_ didn’t have to look to whip an escaped pillow at her, snickering at the somewhat delayed grunt of surprise. The snickering turned to outright laughter when a pillow went sailing past her, missing by a good margin.

“That didn’t count,” Another pillow followed the grumble, landing on Catra’s feet, “Neither did that.”

“Geez, attacking me while I’m being so nice and supportive. Maybe I’ll just get something for myself,” Catra grinned, sparing a glance at her girlfriend. She still looked _wonderfully_ disheveled, golden hair loose and messy around her face, kiss-swollen lips doing their best impression of a pout through the grin Adora was failing to fight back. Dork.

“Noooo, come on, please?”

“… Fine, you’re cute when you beg.”

When Adora raised her fists in a victory pose, Catra pounced, tickling her unprotected sides. Sure, maybe she had a mission, but it could wait a minute or two while Adora was floppy and susceptible to tickle-attacks. Any chance to listen to her laugh was absolutely worth delaying other things for.

Finally satisfied—well, no, she could do that for hours, but she didn’t want Adora to crack a rib or something—Catra leaned back, smirking, “Going soft on me, what happened?”

“Gotta let you feel like you earned that ego every once in a while.”

“Let me, huh?” Catra’s hands drifted back to her ribs.

Adora rolled her eyes, but Catra didn’t miss the little jolt her whole body gave, “Fine fine, you totally earned it, you are a master of your craft, I quiver before your might. Snacks now, please?”

“Since you asked so nicely,” she huffed, taking a moment to rub her cheek against Adora’s, grinning when she responded in kind.

“Love you!”

“Yeah yeah, love you too,” Catra didn’t quite grumble. Couldn’t quite grumble. She was smiling too hard and felt too light, a feeling only amplified by the way Adora held onto her hand as long as she could. Catra gave her fingertips a quick squeeze before finally heading out the door.

Damn, when had she gotten so _sappy_? But. Eh. Fuck it. It was kind of fun.

Walking all the way to the kitchen was less fun, but at this point, Catra could have done it blindfolded. Midnight snack runs, or midday snack runs , or really snack runs at any time of day or night were hardly a rarity between Adora’s voracious appetite and the number of people who seemed content to just make themselves at home in their room. So she just let her mind replay more enjoyable footage until she practically walked into the pantry door. After a quick check that no one had seen, Catra straightened up. She was grace and agility incarnate, no one could say otherwise.

It didn’t take long to locate one of Adora’s favorites and snag an unopened bag. Catra wasn’t particularly hungry, but she’d happily steal a few bites while Adora ate. Theft made it taste better.

And, because she was _such_ a kind and caring girlfriend, she grabbed a couple cold bottles of water. And because she was _such_ a kind and caring friend, she didn’t lob them at Bow when his silhouette suddenly appeared in the doorway. Nor did she have to bite down on her tongue to keep from shrieking. No one could sneak up on her. It didn’t happen.

“Catra?” At least he sounded equally surprised.

“Arrow Boy? What are you doing up?”

“I- uh. I could ask you the same thing,” Bow replied, voice cracking.

Catra brandished the bag of chips, quirking an eyebrow. Something was up. Between traveling together and sleepovers, Catra had picked up that Bow tended to be a sound sleeper. In all the months at Bright Moon, she’d never run into him at night.

“Right. Yeah, sorry. I’ll just… I’ll go.”

“Yeah, no. You’re acting weird as shit.” Catra stalked out of the kitchen, into the light of the hallway. Eyes adjusting, she could see he seemed… off. Subdued, but not just tired.

“It's just… it’s been a long day, I’m okay.”

It was always the weirdest thing, watching Bow shut down, close off. One of the things she’d always appreciated about him, once she realized it, was that he was so genuine. There were no mental gymnastics necessary when talking to him, beyond dealing with her own disbelief, anyway. But there was no mistaking the hollowness in his voice, the forced neutrality of his expression, and gods was it surreal.

Feeling a bit off balance herself, both from the rarity of this sort of behavior from Bow, and having never dealt with it without Glimmer or Adora around, Catra did the only thing that came naturally.

“You take acting classes from Adora, or are you just that bad at lying on your own?” She shifted her bounty into one hand, using the other to poke the center of his chest.

Bow just sort of gaped at her, shifting uncomfortably for a moment before trying again, “It’s nothing, I-”

“That bullshit doesn’t work on me, and you know it doesn’t work on anyone else either. You don’t want to talk about it, fine, but clearly _something_ is bothering you.”

Maybe it was harsher than necessary, but Catra didn’t quite know what to do. There was a part of her that was pissed at whoever or whatever upset him, and she didn’t know what that was. But whatever it was could fuck right off, Bow didn’t deserve that shit.

…He also didn’t deserve to get snapped at.

Sighing, Catra continued, a little gentler, “Look, you don’t have to explain. Just point me at the issue and I’ll beat it up or something.”

To her relief, that drew a laugh out of Bow and a little smile, still subdued, but not that weird, distant look from before.

“It’s uh, not really that kind of issue, but thanks,” Bow stepped back a little, then sighed, “I think I’m just overthinking things.”

“No! _Y_ _ou?_ Overthinking things? I’m shocked,” Catra deadpanned. Hey, if it was working, why stop?

Bow snorted, leaning against the opposite wall of the hallway, “Maybe less overthinking and more thinking about too many things at once. There’s just… a million little things. And none of them are that bad, but together…” Bow trailed off, shrugging.

“Together they make you wander the halls at one in the morning like some kind of weird, sad ghost?”

Another little laugh. Score.

“Yeah, I guess so. A weird, sad, stressed ghost.”

Okay. Sad and stressed of his own admission, over a bunch of minor things. Cool. She was actually getting somewhere.

“Whose many tiny problems I _can’t_ maul, just to be clear?”

“That uh, wouldn’t be helpful, no.”

“But aimless nighttime wandering _is_.”

Bow hung his head a little, “Also probably no. But I couldn’t sleep and didn’t want to bother Glimmer.”

Glimmer had been in meetings most of the day. Adora could probably stand in the room and transform back and forth for hours without waking her on days like that, and Bow’s crisis likely _didn’t_ involve battle cries and light shows. So, what, did he _actually_ want to be alone? Maybe this was a stupid idea.

Then again, he hadn’t walked away.

“Well, good news is, I’m not Glimmer,” Catra watched his reaction carefully, as she set the chips and drinks down, leaning against the wall opposite him, “And I’ve got some time.”

Adora would forgive her, if she wasn’t asleep already.

Surprise, confusion, happiness, conflict—it was difficult to keep up with the emotions that flashed across Bow’s features, even with his relative lack of a filter. Finally, he seemed to land somewhere between resignation and relief.

“I don’t even know where to start,” Bow started.

As it turned out, Bow really did have a lot on his mind, and once he started, it didn’t seem like he could stop. Between individual worries about _every_ one of his friends, siblings, and parents, missing his busier brothers, concerns about the work he and Entrapta had been doing on the ship, a long-winded freakout about the unknowable problems they might face in space, _and_ somehow also fretting over a present for Glimmer, it surprised Catra he hadn’t been acting weird sooner.

“Bow?” she said, turning to look at him. Somewhere around the tenth minute of his monologue, Catra had slid down the wall to sit, and Bow crossed the hall and plopped down beside her.

“Yeah?” His voice was a little hoarse, despite having finished his speech a couple minutes ago. Catra offered one of the water bottles, which he took with a grateful smile.

“Did this… actually help at all?”

Bow seemed to consider it for a little while, fiddling with the water bottle.

“Sort of. I mean, it doesn’t fix that I _am_ worried about everything, but it was nice to just… get it out.”

Catra nodded, quiet. She could live with that. With a little huff, she bumped shoulders with him as she stood, stretching her legs.

“Good enough for me.”

“…Thanks, Catra. Really.” There it was, that normal soft tone again, a sign he was actually feeling a bit better, at least for the moment. Catra snorted to hide a little smile.

“Get some sleep, asshole. Sparkles is probably missing you.”

Bow laughed then, a real, warm, Bow kind of laugh, and stood.

“You’re probably right," He seemed to hesitate for a second before starting to walk away, "Good night, Catra.”

Catra sighed, swallowing some pride. If she was going to do this friend thing, she might as well do it right. Before he got out of reach, she snagged a hold on his shirt and pulled him into a quick, one-armed hug, releasing him almost before he could hug back, “Night.”

For once, he had the good sense to leave it.

Catra was honestly a bit surprised to find Adora was still awake. She’d apparently taken the extra time to rearrange the pillows into something of a nest and throw on one of her sleep shirts, but her hair was still an absolute mess.

“Did you get lost?” Adora asked with a laugh.

“Nah, just was talking with Bow.” Catra tossed the bag of chips and the water bottles—she’d remembered to grab an extra after Bow left—onto the bed before allowing Adora to take her hands and draw her close. Once she was comfortably cuddled up against her side, her head tucked under Adora’s chin, Catra continued, “He just had a lot on his mind. … Like _a lot_.”

Adora let out a soft, almost sad sounding little hum, the hand resting at the small of Catra’s back starting to rub gentle circles, first lightly, over the fur, then a little firmer, loosening some tight muscles.

“He usually does,” she said after a moment, “Glad you got him to talk, though. If he was talking for this long, he probably needed it.”

Catra smiled a little, relaxing further against Adora. Cool. She actually was getting better at friend stuff.

“So, what’s the nest about?”

“Oh! I noticed you kinda built one around yourself this morning after I got up, and you looked so comfy, so I thought you might like it to actually sleep in. Also, I queued up some videos to watch while we snack, if you want?”

Right, she had to be reminded every hour or so she was in love with the sweetest fucking dork in history.

Adora twisted and grabbed her tracker pad, handing it to Catra while she worked on opening the waters and chips for easy access. Once they were settled and comfortable, Adora pressed a little kiss to Catra’s hair, one she returned at Adora’s neck, before starting the first video.

* * *

When Bow returned to Glimmer’s room, everything was quiet. Climbing back into bed, he found Glimmer still sound asleep, as he’d expected. Meetings always seemed to exhaust her. Carefully, he tucked some stray hairs away from her face, leaning over to kiss her cheek. She didn’t stir, though he swore he saw her smile, just a little.

He wrapped an arm around her as he settled back down to sleep, smiling when she snuggled just a bit closer, “Good night, Glimmer.”

**Author's Note:**

> Title from "Slow Down" by Douwe Bob
> 
> Not gonna lie, I friggin' struggled over Bow's monologue for like, three separate tries before finally just having Catra summarize because I was having great difficulty getting into his voice for some reason, which is also the reason the part from his POV is so short. That said, I do rather like the dynamic I struck for these two. 
> 
> In any case, hope y'all enjoy!


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